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Hydrogen Powered Vehicles

There are only about 15,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles on U.S. roads right now, and all of them are in California. Meanwhile, EVs are out there in the millions.

While electric cars are getting attention, with major manufacturers focusing on making them dominant by 2030, hydrogen vehicles are staying in the background for now.

Here's what you need to know about what hydrogen cars are, how they work, and how likely it will be that you'll ever drive one.

You've likely heard a lot about electric vehicles lately, as well as news about legislation to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles. But there's another kind of zero-emission vehicle, one that emits only water vapor as it carries you down the road. That's the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, related to an EV but with specific differences that make hydrogen cars different and much rarer.

To date, about 2.5 million EVs have been sold in the U.S. By contrast, as of mid-2022, 15,000 or fewer hydrogen-powered vehicles can be found on U.S. roads. All of them will be in California, the sole state with a network of retail hydrogen fueling stations to make the cars usable.

Hydrogen Cars Currently Available
Since 2015, three hydrogen -powered cars have been offered for sale from three different car companies: the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, the Hyundai Nexo SUV, and the Toyota Mirai. But Honda has now ended production of all models of the Clarity, and Hyundai has sold fewer than 1500 Nexo SUVs thus far.

Toyota, the company most devoted to hydrogen power as an alternative to battery-electric vehicles, has sold roughly 10,700 Mirai sedans across two generations in the U.S.—though in some periods it resorted to substantial discounting to move them. (Honda does not break out sales of its Clarity Fuel Cell model from the plug-in-hybrid and battery-electric Clarity versions.)  READ MORE...

Your Spiritual Journey

 

Emerging Technologies

 

New Technology

 Isn't it amazing how some of us...  like myself...  get stupider as we get older instead of smarter...  while that stupidity is not across the intellectual board, it does mostly pertain to technology, and more specifically to computers and cell phones, with cell phones being at the top of the list. 

My phone company sent me an email saying I could get an $850 Samsung S23 phone for $150 (providing I turned in my LG) and since that was a good deal and my LG was about 5 years old, I decided to take the deal.

My Samsung S23 arrived today and I felt dumber than homemade shit trying to get it setup without having to call my phone for support...  as those young kids that answer always made you feel rather old and stupid (which I am) when it comes to a simple process of ugrading a phone.

Well, the instructions seem simple enough, providing you understand them and when you don't really understand what they are asking you to do, you feel like preparing for a colonoscopy would be easier.

After 90 minutes, I finall got on the right page so to speak and my phone starting perking along just like a Bunn coffee pot, transferring the data from my old phone to my new phone via some sort of switch app.  It must have worked fine because, all my apps are there including my phone contacts and photos.  The only item that did not transfer were my quick memos, which I sent to my gmail acct as a pdf attachment.  I can download that later.

One would think that an android phone is an android phone...  but, that is not the case as my Samsung operates differently than my LG.  It will take me a couple of days to get comfortable with this new phone and then I will feel stupid because I had earlier let myself feel stupid.

The life of a tech newbie...

China Wants the Upper Hand In Space

The race to the moon between the United States and China is getting tighter and the next two years could determine who gains the upper hand.

So says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who warns that Beijing could establish a foothold and try to dominate the most resource-rich locations on the lunar surface — or even keep the U.S. out.

“It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” the former Florida senator and astronaut said in an interview. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’”

He cited an Earthly example in the South China Sea, where the Chinese military has established bases on contested islands. “If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands.”

Nelson’s hawkish comments follow NASA’s 26-day Artemis I mission, in which an uncrewed Orion space capsule flew around the moon. That mission, widely regarded as a success, was the first big step toward NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface to begin building a more permanent human presence — which could come as early as 2025.

It also comes on the heels of Congress’ passage of a full-year budget for NASA. The agency did not get all the funding it requested, but Nelson insisted that the “have to haves” were not shortchanged. That includes the key components for the next two moon missions, Artemis II and Artemis III.

But looming ever-larger is China’s aggressive space program, including its recent opening of a new space station. Beijing has announced a goal of landing taikonauts on the moon by the end of this decade. In December, China’s government laid out its vision for more ambitious endeavors such as building infrastructure in space and creating a space governance system.  READ MORE...

Awareness

 

Ancient Wisdom

 

Unseen Enemies

 

My Life So Far...

 I was born in 1947, 75 years ago and if I were to look back at all that I have experienced, I would have to say that I have had a satisfactory life...  that is not to say my life has been filled with its share of ups and down...

I gew up in Alexandria, Virginia, was a member of the NRA, BSA, the DeMolay, and the Mt. Vernon Guard.  I was very athletic.  I went to high school in Cairo, Egypt and traveled throughout Europe in the summer months.  I am a veteran of the Vietnam War, and a college graduate that includes grad school with an MBA.  Either I personally paid tuition or my tuition was paid for by the GI Bill.  My 45 year career revolved around middle to upper management in the field of education.  I have experienced more negative relationships with my supervisors than positive and was glad to be able to finally retire at age 67.

For the first 5 years of our retirement, my wife and I went somewhere for a week, every other month.  These trips included:  US contiguous States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe which also included 10 cruises.

My health was in perfect condition until age 60 when I suffered a heart attack and was told I had Lymphoma.  Five years later, I was diagnosed with Melanoma.  Last year, I had L2-L3-L4-L5-S1 disks fused together and while I am walking fine now, I cannot walk fast, nor can I put on my underwear and pants when sitting in a chair.  I have not notice other limitations yet.  I walk a mile each day and ride a stationary bike 3 miles each day.

I don't smoke, drink, use drugs, and eat a fairly healthy diet that consists of fish, chicken, turkey, beans, vegetables, and fruit.  I make a conscious effort to eat between 1,000-1,800 calories per day.

If I am fortunate, I will live another 15-20 years.  My father lived to 89 and my mother 95, so the odds are in my favor.

My lifestyle is very simple.  My wife and I have been debt free for over 15 years and have no intentions of changing that status.  We spend most of our time at home, vacationing at Myrtle Beach, SC twice each year.  We eat dinner out once or twice a week.  Most of my time is spent publishing daily posts on my two blogs and writing novels.

My novels are typically 100,000 words in length and are about a variety of fictional topics.  One day I will look into publishing them on Amazon KDP but for the moment, I just enjoy writing them.  I have written 8, working on number 9, and have prepared a chapter outline for number 10.

Outside of my father accepting a position with the US State Department that was associated with the US Embassy, I have not lived a life a white privilege.  I would have to say that my entire life has been lived in the category of LOWER MIDDLE CLASS, never earning a salary over $50,000 which is right at the national average.

My wife and I have never wanted for anything, always having more than we needed or exactly what we needed.  Part of this need is based upon where we live in East TN which is 15-21% cheaper on average than any other location in the USA.  We would not have been able to live like this in Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, or Washington, DC.  I moved to TN in 1990 from Burlington, NC and if I had remained in NC, I WOULD NOT have been able to live as well as I did in TN...  so, location for me was very important and worked to my advantage.

My Life So Far...  has been satisfactory, acceptable, and I would not have traded it for another life.  I cook my own meals, mow my own grass, and perform all outside lawn maintenance rather than hiring someone.  I am glad that I do this because it gives me exercise and keeps me busy.

We  don't have a land line - only cell phones.  We don't have cable but we do have a fiber optic WIFI connection and pay for HULU, Netflix, and Prime via a ROKU device.  Our vehicles were purchased USED in 2015 and when we go to Myrtle Beach we are there from Sunday through Saturday when the rates are their lowest, usually in June and late September.  I have not purchased any new clothes since 2010, except for baseball caps during our 2015-2020 travels...  lol

I don't live like:

• a millionaire
• a billionaire
• a Hollywood celebrity 
• a rock musician
• a professional athlete
• in a gated community
• in the slums

BUT...  I do think I live pretty damn good...

Watch & Listen

 

Thinker

 

Rare

 

Google Starlink Partnership

Rumors that Elon Musk has bought Google persist, and are no more true now than they were a month ago, but it is certainly worth keeping up to date with SpaceX and Starlink’s partnership with the company’s cloud computing services.

In 2015, Google and Fidelity together invested $1 billion in SpaceX, meaning the partnership Elon Musk enjoys with the search engine and cloud computing giant has history.

The investment meant the Google and Fidelity together owned just under 10% of SpaceX.

“It’s no surprise that Alphabet is interested in space,” The Motley Fool wrote shortly afterwards. But what is at the root of Google’s partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink companies, and what could it mean for the future of the Internet?

WHAT DOES THE PARTNERSHIP LINKING ELON MUSK, SPACEX, STARLINK AND GOOGLE ACTUALLY MEAN?

In a nutshell, one of the key ideas behind the partnership is to affordably bring a fast and secure Internet connection to that part of the world’s population that can’t currently get online. That’s roughly 2.9 billion. When running, data will travel from Google cloud services to Starlink satellites and then to end users, bypassing the need for expensive cell towers and dramatically increasing coverage.

2.9 billion is a big number and represents a lot of people. The UN’s ICT arm published a report in late 2021 claiming that more than a third of the world’s population have “still never used the Internet.”

In May 2021, Google said it had signed a partnership deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX that would enable it to use the space company’s growing network of satellites, known as Starlink.

The deal will allow Starlink customers to use Google’s cloud computing capabilities while enabling Google to use Starlink’s fast Internet speeds for its cloud customers.  READ MORE..

Future Inventions

 

Power Pod

 

Strictly Political

 

Robots - Jobs and Illegal Immigration

There is one issue that concerns me when it comes to the future of the USA...  and this concern revolves around technology and ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION...

While there are many people smarter than me, I wonder if any of these smart people have performed a correlation analysis on jobs lost due to robots and the percentage of illegal immigrants looking for low wage employment?

According to the Forbes Technology Council: insurance underwriting, warehouse and manufacturing jobs, customer service, research and data entry, long haul trucking and a somewhat disconcertingly broad category titled “Any Tasks That Can Be Learned.”

These are broad categories to say the least and encompass damn near anything...  but the point is that the jobs that are being lost due to robots are AMERICAN JOBS NOT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT JOBS...

Where will these American go to find work?

Where will these illegal immigrants go to find work?

The other concern is what will happen to our economy when all these robots replace jobs and consumer spending goes down...  I am assuming that robots will not be purchasing goods and services...  so, if Americans and Illegal Immigrants are not spending money in the economy, then the result is that consumer spending goes DOWN...

Since the expenditure of robots will be prorated over several years and could also be seen  as a sunk cost, as it is a one time only expenditure, then will PRICES GO DOWN?  Or, will companies keep prices up to increase revenues?

It is widely believe that robots will create more jobs than they replace, and while the logic in that seems sound, it is faulty because building robots is SKILLED LABOR and the jobs that robots will be taking is UNSKILLED LABOR...

It is my humble opinion that the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT issue is going to cause lots of problems in a couple of years as they consume resources and give back very little.  What are the odds that 80% of the Illegal Immigrants will ever learn to speak English?

How will we educate and train these Illegal Immigrants if they cannot speak English.  Hire people who speak English but who are not really educators?

Being a teacher is a skilled profession....

Technology is great and I enjoy it more than you can ever imagine, but with our advances in technology will come problems and if we don't anticipate those problems, we will have ourselves ONE PISSED OFF SOCIETY...

 

Robots Taking Over Jobs by 2025

There are two sides to this coin: Robots and AI will take some jobs away from humans — but they will also create new ones. Since 2000, robots and automation systems have slowly phased out many manufacturing jobs — 1.7 million of them. On the flip side, it’s predicted that AI will create 97 million new jobs by 2025.

WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) REPLACE JOBS?
AI is and will continue to replace some jobs. Workers in industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture and industrial sectors can all expect to see disruptions in hiring due to AI. But demand for workers, especially in robotics and software engineering, are expected to rise thanks to AI.

Some people don’t see it both ways. For example, Sean Chou, former CEO of AI startup Catalytic, thinks robots are stupid —and he’s not alone in his frank assessment.

“All you have to do is type in ‘YouTube robot fail,’” Chou said.

Don’t misunderstand, though; it isn’t that the machines aren’t rising. It’s that they’re rising much more slowly than some of the more breathless media coverage might have you believe — which is great news for most of those who think robots and other AI-powered technology will soon steal their jobs. “Most of” being the operative words.

Types of Jobs AI Will Impact
The consensus among many experts is that a number of professions will be totally automated in the next five to 10 years. A group of senior-level tech executives who comprise the Forbes Technology Council named 15: insurance underwriting, warehouse and manufacturing jobs, customer service, research and data entry, long haul trucking and a somewhat disconcertingly broad category titled “Any Tasks That Can Be Learned.”

HOW MANY JOBS WILL AI REPLACE?
According to the World Economic Forum's "The Future of Jobs Report 2020," AI is expected to replace 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025. Though that sounds scary, the report goes on to say that it will also create 97 million new jobs in that same timeframe.

Kai-Fu Lee, AI expert and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, wrote in a 2018 essay that 50 percent of all jobs will be automated by AI within 15 years.

“Accountants, factory workers, truckers, paralegals, and radiologists — just to name a few — will be confronted by a disruption akin to that faced by farmers during the Industrial Revolution,” Lee wrote.

When considering those developments and predictions, and based on multiple studies — by the McKinsey Global Institute, Oxford University and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, among others — there is massive and unavoidable change afoot. Research suggests that both specially trained workers and blue-collar workers will be impacted by the continued implementation of AI.

Developments in generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard have raised questions about if AI will replace jobs that involve writing. While it’s unlikely that AI will ever match the authentic creativity of humans, it is already being used as a catalyst for writing ideas and assisting with repetitive content creation.  READ MORE...

Social Justice

United Nations. “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.”

...Particularly those in greatest need...

So, if someone has a greater need than someone else then they DESERVE MORE SOCIAL JUSTICE...

How do you reconcile the social justice 

of HEIGHT?

of BEAUTY?

of INTELLIGENCE

of ARTISTIC TALENT?

of ATHLETIC TALENT?

I want to pay $3,000 to a university (name hidden) to take a class in THEORETICAL PHYSICS and the reason why I am willing to pay that amount of money is because of the reputation of the professor...  however, because of social justice, there is another professor who isn't not as intellectually brilliant as the original professor but who the university assigns to teach the class BECAUSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE...

I realize that the less intelligent professor has a greater need but what about my need(s) as the paying customer?

What about being forced to marry an ugly woman because of social justice?

What about Michael Jordan not being able to play for the Chicago Bulls because of social justice?

Here's a good one...

Should we elect a DUMBASS for President because of social justice?

Maybe we should hire a pilot to fly a commercial airplane who just barely passed the Pilot's exam because of social justice...  and just hope and pray that he lands the plane safely.

In theory and perhaps on paper the concept of social justice seems like it is justified, but putting it into practice is going to be frought with problems...

WHO DECIDES WHO SHOULD GET SOCIAL JUSTICE OR NOT???

Someone who is biased?

Someone who is mentally challenged?

Someone who is black?

Someone who is not yet 21 years of age?

What credentials should this decision maker have?

How much experience should this person have?

Will social justice treat blacks and WHITE TRASH the same?

Would you want a jury of your peers to decide a murder case based upon selecting the jury on the criteria of social justice?

LET'S FACE THE TRUTH HERE...  Social Justice is designed to HELP BLACKS ONLY...  because there are a group of people who think that just because the blacks don't have skills, talents, or intelligence, that they should be helped...

• 90% of the NBA is black
• 80% of the NFL is black
• We have numerous black actors and actresses
• We have numerous black millionaires and billionaires
• We have many black musicians, artists, writers...etc.

These people were successful without SOCIAL JUSTICE...

Why do you think that happened?

Brainwashing

 

Truth

 

Life is Short

 

Illegal Immigration Into the USA

QUESTION:  Why does the Biden Administration not want to stop Illegal Immigration into the USA?

ANSWER:  The Biden Administration along with the Democratic Party (Liberals & Progressives) do not perceive illegal immigration as a threat to the USA.

QUESTION:  Why not?

ANSWER:  There are a multitude of reasons but I am of the opinion that the Demcrats believe that these illegal immigrants will, if given the opportunity, vote Democratic rather than Republican.

QUESTION:  Why is that important?

ANSWER:  The Democrats want to silence the conservative voice here in the USA so that the only party that will ever be elected to office will be the Democrats.

When our Constitution was written and adopted, it was based upon a Democratic Republic form of government and the government was predicated upon a TWO PARTY SYSTEM...  or, what is more commonly referred to as OPPOSING VIEWS...  Without opposing views, the party in power has complete control...  just like a dictatorship and/or a communist country.

But...  more importantly...  our illegal immigration problem will not just upset the balance of power, but it will change the culture and the demographic fabric of our society.

• I am not talking about whites, browns, and blacks.
• I am not talking about Mexicans, Hispanics, and Asians.

I am talking about:

• values
• morals
• speaking English
• healthcare
• pride in one's work
• maintaining one's hygiene 
• taking care of one's home
• taking care of rental property
• car insurance
• infectious diseases
• perpetuating slum conditions
• not having pride in one's self
• lack of education
• lack of technical skills

If you have ever visited Mexico, Central America, or South America, the people that live in those areas don't share the same values as do the citizens of the USA.

• They urinate in the streets
• They defecate in the streets
• They throw garbage out into the streets
• They do not clean up after walking their dogs
• They are not conscious of littering
• They have no desire to keep a clean house/apartment
• They do not take baths/showers
• They wear the same clothes for weeks at a time
• They have no desire to be education
• They have no motivation to get out of poverty
• They do not get immunization shots
• They do not wash their bed sheets weekly
• They let farm animals run wild
• They appear to have no morals or integrity
• Their leaders take bribes and kickbacks

This change in our culture will not take place in 2023 nor will it take place in 2024...  but, in 2025 you will start to see these types of communities developing all over the United States...  as they move from one location to another location looking for work...

These immigrants will find seasonal UNSKILLED work:

• picking our fruit
• picking our vegetables
• cleaning our motels
• planting crops
• putting up drywall
• painting our houses
• replacing roofs on houses
• washing dishes in restaurants

Mainly they will stay down south where it is warm in the winter and they can sleep outside, increasing our homeless problem.

Most of these people could care less about voting in an election and they don't give a damn about what happens to this country...  and, if they become citizens, I betcha they will NEVER JOIN THE MILITARY to defend the country they so desperately wanted to live in...

Just as CRIME and VIOLENCE in the big cities is starting to bite the ass of their Democratic Leaders, so too will immigration bite us in the ass...  and there will be NO WAY to remove them from this country...

WE WILL JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH OUR STUPIDITY...

 

Cuties

 

Natural

 

Balls

 

Machine Learning Matters

Because of new computing technologies, machine learning today is not like machine learning of the past. It was born from pattern recognition and the theory that computers can learn without being programmed to perform specific tasks; researchers interested in artificial intelligence wanted to see if computers could learn from data. 

The iterative aspect of machine learning is important because as models are exposed to new data, they are able to independently adapt. They learn from previous computations to produce reliable, repeatable decisions and results. It’s a science that’s not new – but one that has gained fresh momentum.

While many machine learning algorithms have been around for a long time, the ability to automatically apply complex mathematical calculations to big data – over and over, faster and faster – is a recent development. 

Here are a few widely publicized examples of machine learning applications you may be familiar with:

The heavily hyped, self-driving Google car? 

The essence of machine learning.
Online recommendation offers such as those from Amazon and Netflix? 

Machine learning applications for everyday life.
Knowing what customers are saying about you on Twitter? 

Machine learning combined with linguistic rule creation.
Fraud detection? 

One of the more obvious, important uses in our world today.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
While artificial intelligence (AI) is the broad science of mimicking human abilities, machine learning is a specific subset of AI that trains a machine how to learn. Watch this video to better understand the relationship between AI and machine learning. You'll see how these two technologies work, with useful examples and a few funny asides.

Why is machine learning important?
Resurging interest in machine learning is due to the same factors that have made data mining and Bayesian analysis more popular than ever. Things like growing volumes and varieties of available data, computational processing that is cheaper and more powerful, and affordable data storage.

All of these things mean it's possible to quickly and automatically produce models that can analyze bigger, more complex data and deliver faster, more accurate results – even on a very large scale. And by building precise models, an organization has a better chance of identifying profitable opportunities – or avoiding unknown risks.  READ MORE...

Past & Future

 

New Motor